It is summer again, but this year we have a complicated
schedule due to the late start of school holidays and Paula's early start of
her new life at university. To get the ball rolling we all drove to France,
including Beau. Then we got Beau settled into his new temporary life in the
garden, especially with the large number of flies, horseflies and mosquitos. He
reunited with his old friend Image, the village pony, and the unlimited amount of grass to eat. Paula started her summer
job in the local restaurant La Romanche as waitress and dishwasher, making use
of her tri-lingual skills. And of course Mary got all her tools out to work in
the garden.
But the main event in the first few days was La
Marmotte, the cycling tour Piet has been training for this spring.
Unfortunately he was unable to get a race number, as the online registration
was sold out in a single day (when he happened to be in Cape Town), and there
were no last minute options. His cycling mate Renaat did manage to register,
and he and his wife Ans drove over for the event. Piet joined as a gate
crasher....
On the day most roads were closed, but with careful
planning Mary, Dorien and Ans managed to get ahead of the pack, and drove up
Col du Glandon to wait. As there were 10000 participants it was tricky to pick
out the boys, but luckily Piet had a very distinctive jersey. Renaat was a bit
more difficult to recognise. The next meeting point was on top of Col du
Telegraphe, and all was still going well. The weather was perfect, not too hot,
with bit of sunshine during the day. Then on the Col du Galibier both started
suffering. The last 7 kilometers are very steep, and it was a real struggle to
the top (at 2645 m), with several rest stops required for both. They were not the only ones,
and although there were hundreds and hundreds of cyclists it was dead silent on
that stretch of road. On the top they filled up with apple pie, chocolate and
sports bars, before the 45 km descent down to Bourg d'Oisans.
The last climb of the day was Alpe d'Huez, and although
they could take it relatively easy during the descent they had already cycled
160 km when the road started to go up again. Helped by his intimate knowledge
of the climb Piet managed to cycle up without major problems. Both managed to
finish the event, with more than 9.5 hours on the bike for Piet.
Back at the house there was food and football, the
World Cup quarterfinals. First Belgium got beaten by Argentina, and then the
match between Netherlands and Costa Rica was not broadcasted by French
television. Renaat (he is Belgian) decided for bed, but Piet went to Paula's
restaurant to watch. Luckily they won, and exhausted Piet fell into a coma in
his bed. The next morning Piet and Dorien drove back with Renaat and Ans, as
school and office were still waiting, unfortunately.
Piet has arrived on Col du Glandon
Many, many cyclists on Col du Glandon
Arriving on Col du Telegraphe
Renaat and Piet taking a rest on the Col du Telegraphe
Col du Galibier: beautiful setting in the Alps
Piet managing a smile on Col du Galibier
Near the top of Col du Galibier: still plenty of snow around
Dorien and Piet: well fed and ready for the descent towards Bourg d'Oisans
